L543

I don't know anything about applying to dental school, so all my advice will be for applying to chemistry programs.
In terms of letters of recommendation, you will need at least three. One of these should obviously be from your PI, and the others should be from professors who know you well and speak to your abilities. Make sure when you ask them for a letter of rec that they feel they can write a strong letter, not just a generic letter.
PhD applications are mostly due in December or January, and they typically open in the late summer or early fall.
Your GPA is obviously very strong, and the fact that you have a couple years of research experience is also good. The most important aspects that you should focus on are your personal statement and making sure your letters of recommendation are strong.

Going to backpack in Europe for a couple weeks. Schools going to be stressful, might as well relax a bit before it starts  

I've heard mixed message from faculty members/PIs/ADCOM members about narrative structures in personal statements. The most common "AVOID THIS" advice I received was to not hinge your narrative on emotional statements. Like "I knew I wanted to be a scientist when I watched my *insert loved one here* suffer from *insert sad disease here*..." and then carrying that as the main thread underlying your narrative. I'm sure some people are fine with this, but I think the issue is that some people really don't like this approach, so the advice is to play it safe and avoid appealing to people through these types of emotional stories. 
I structured my personal statement as kinda a timeline, beginning in the early days when my initial scientific curiosity was sparked, then moving through the experiences I gained over the years and at the end, bringing it back to that initial curiosity still being there as well as other important characteristics that developed along the way.
 
My biggest tip is to start early, write a draft, walk away from it for a few weeks. Then pull it back out, look at it again with fresh eyes. Re work it and be super open to a complete overhaul (this is why starting early is the first step!). Then start sharing it, and remain open to total overhauls. For me, starting early and walking away from it several times gave me the big picture perspective I needed to take it from decent to amazing, at least compared to the original draft  

Woke up this morning to an email telling me I won the NSF GRF. I'm in shock. Never thought I'd get it. Was hoping for an honorable mention. Now I've got to decide where I'm going to grad school. 

Accepted to NYU with a 2.6 uGPA. Miracles happen. 

THIS post made me cringe, so I'm here to scientifically slap you with the truth (whatever that means.) PhD's can be used for so much more than jobs in academia - in fact, it's actually absurd to think that everyone should try to pursue an academic career, since as you said many individuals who go to grad school are not well-suited for it and there is an over-saturation of PhDs compared to the academic jobs available. To imply that people who pursue careers outside of academic are not SCIENTISTS is quite frankly ridiculous, especially for scientists in industry. Is the person who directs R&D for a drug company not a scientist? What about biochemists and analytical chemists working in the food industry? Would you turn these jobs over to individuals without intensive training in a PhD program? These jobs are not "soft" by any estimation and I have no idea why you would think that in the first place.
Also, you seem to hold the outdated belief that the only way to get a worthwhile graduate education is to suffer for five years under the most challenging professor to work with. I hate to break it to you, although that statement may have had some validity fifty years ago, it's no longer true in any way. Yes, it's important to work with a PI who is well-respected in your specific subfield of interest and who publishes frequently in good journals, but your educational experience will be much better overall if you choose someone who works well with your learning style and can improve your ability to engage as a scientist. Like you said, the goal is to cultivate raw talent and bring the student up to become a peer to the professors they work with. Choosing a compatible PI personality-wise not just about being happy - it's about being productive and getting the training that helps you advance to that level. Please don't suffer in the name of trying to be the best. Rank means nothing in grad school; it's all about what you do for yourself.
This elitist attitude - you should really try and check it before entering a grad program. Otherwise, you're going to wash out very fast when you have an inability to "roll with the punches" and consider ideas that challenge your worldview. Also, if you're only interested in academic careers, treating your cohort like trash behind their backs is a great way to burn those bridges you might need to secure a tenure track. You may think you're better than them, but science is an enterprise of people - you've got to get along to get ahead.   

Well thanks for the honesty I suppose. I'm going to be blunt with you, so try to not take offense, but you seem awfully arrogant. Some of your points are valid and I agree with; there are currently too many PhDs being trained. At this rate it's not sustainable, it's simply not. But to say a PhD is not worthwhile unless you stay in academia is silly and myopic, and should someone choose industry over academia that does not make them any less of a scientist. Many PhDs are choosing industry and alternative careers simply because they find academia is not an attractive option. Being on an entirely soft money salary fighting tooth and nail for grants in order to feed your family isn't exactly everyone's idea of a stable career, and if you can't see that then perhaps you should reflect on the current climate of academia a bit more. You know what percentage of PhD graduates end up in tenure track positions? It's low. While academia was once the default path, it's quickly becoming just the opposite and schools are changing to reflect that. 
You are exactly the the type of person I am looking to avoid for rotations. I hope during the course of your training you take off your blinders, because your narrow mindedness is something that is not a great character trait. 

Does it bother anyone else that schools like to start out the career path options presentations without mentioning going for a career in academia?
Why the heck would you go to grad school for your PhD if that is not your goal. I'm sick and tired of that shit, you don't need a PhD for consulting, you don't need a PhD to become a science writer, you don't need a PhD for an industry job..
Schools are letting in too many people, at every interview I've been to, I've met tons of smart people, alternatively, I've also met people that make me think "Why are you here?". I hear stuff like: "I'll be picking a mentor and doing rotations with people whose personalities mesh with mine" are you kidding me? -- I'll be doing rotations with people who are going to challenge me and push me to the edge - I'll be going with my gut feelings on who I choose to work with and it will purely be based off of their science. 
There are TOO many PhD's awarded, have you seen the statistics on PhDs on welfare (not just Biology PhDs to be fair but all in the USA) something like 30 percent on welfare. 50 years ago there were about 600,000 Bio researchers, now there are 6-7 million, it's not sustainable.
Schools need to clean up their acts, Masters degrees need to be funded not paid for by students - that can solve two problems: replicability as MS degrees can be focused on reproducing data and not novel data generation; it can also give an avenue for all the people who want to do what I would call "soft" stuff with their degrees. PhDs should only be given and encouraged for those who have raw talent and can become peers with professors not every person who applies.
If science does not keep you awake a night and doesn't wake you up in the morning... good luck.
When I'm a PI one day, I will not even let a student who does not want to become a SCIENTIST anywhere near my lab, not even for a rotation. Some of the people on this website and IRL just make me cringe, somebody needs to scientifically slap them with the truth.
What are your thoughts? Are you getting your PhD without the intent of at least trying to become a PI or Lecturer? Why? 

Well here's hoping we both hear by the weekend!

I've been doing the same thing!!! Newegg and Linkedin scared me so bad!!! 
One of my programs said by the end of February. Glad it's a short month. 3 less days to panic!
 

Waiting to hear back post interview is driving me nuts!!!   The fact that everyone in my lab keeps asking me if I've gotten accepted doesn't help either.
In other news, my step-mom apparently told all her friends and family I'm going to be a medical doctor.......
Just rambling in hopes of keeping my fingers from pressing refresh on my email......

I applied to their biochem program and never heard back. I even emailed them over a month ago inquiring and never got anything back  pretty bummed but I knew it was a reach

@Dichromate I am sorry that you feel MIT is the only school for you, but what if you find yourself in same position next year? MIT is one of the most difficult schools to get into and has a very good chemistry program but other schools have very good chemistry programs too.
You obviously took the time and spent money applying to schools, so why would you not pick one of these schools to attend?
For what it's worth, my suggestion is that you figure out why you would put your future 'on hold' for acceptance into a single school before next year's application cycle.

I have not been in this situation, but I would reach out to the coordinator first and say that you had corresponded with said faculty member and you would like to meet with him if possible. If she says it's not possible, then I'd email the faculty member.

This is definitely false. I interviewed at programs where they interviewed 40+ people for 5-6 spots. 
Also, there's really no need for hostility. I was interested in them. I had a number one school for academic + personal reasons, I thought it was a reach...didn't even expect an interview. Visited, loved it, knew I would go if I got an offer and I got in. It's not some conspiracy...

Hi there!
My interview was on 18th Jan. 2 profs took it.
So they basically asked me to talk about myself, my research, asked some questions about it, then why Davis, plans after grad school and if i had any questions.
Yea i think this was it. 20 mins overall. The profs were chill.
All the very best!

Got accepted to UC Davis BMCDB!
What a relief. The skype interview was pretty laid back

Totally with you all...I am an extrovert but it's still exhausting. I have my most concentrated weekend/five days ahead of me...Baltimore to Ny to Chicago. No idea why I did this to myself but again, good problem to have. I wanted to only apply once so i did a good amount of schools and accepted every single interview offer, luckily they magically had non overlapping options.
Definitely joining you on that alcohol and cake. For now to keep energy up, I've just been eating straight up meat and Greek yogurt. And coffee. Hahaha. But yes, I've been spoiling myself with sweets during this entire process and plan to continue doing so..I'll worry about fitness in March
Thank you and good luck to you too!! Positive vibes for all :-) I look forward to learning where everyone ends up.
 

Good luck to you! It's definitely one of my top choices so I'm really excited 

To add to @Ferroportin's excellent advice, here's one approach I've been coached on for developing tailored questions to ask POI interviewers: read 1-3 of their recent pubs in depth, then come up with questions that would be good follow up projects for the study, or alternative approaches/applications they could try out. A great question about their work, not just a question for the sake of asking one, will catch their attention really quickly. They want thinkers and being able to ask a great question that pertains to their immediate work will only draw positive attention to you. Another "cheat" you can do is look up their recent NIH grant proposals to get a pre-glimpse at where some of their research is heading. https://grants.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm
 
 

I believe around 60 applicants have been invited to interview. No problem!

We want a BMCDB class of ~30 at Davis next year.

Yes. It happens to everyone. You need to recognize that your body and/or mind need a break, and you should do your best to let them have it. When this happens to me, if I can, I choose to take a break, however long I can afford to, to do whatever I want without feeling guilty. The worst thing about this situation is when you're not productive, but instead of recognizing that and doing something else, you try to work, waste time, then feel like a failure. You deserve guilt-free time off. If you can't really take time off (e.g. because the semester just started), you very deliberately decide what is the minimum that you have to do to stay in good standing, and you put off other things. Again, the idea is to allow yourself the time you need to recover. A PhD can be emotionally exhausting, and you have to be kind to yourself. It's also probably good to know that everyone has more productive and less productive times, and those times can be extended (I think I didn't do much of anything useful in the spring semester of my 3rd year! no classes, no teaching, no research, I just spent a bunch of time being confused about what I wanted to do for my dissertation and occasionally had meetings with various people to talk about my confusion and how to get out of it. I snapped out of it in my 4th year). You just have to get through the less productive times and remember that this won't last forever, and it happens to everyone. Take care of yourself, both physically and mentally.

Same here! It basically reversed back to the old checklist. It's probably just something to do with the system. I hope we hear back soon. I can't with the anxiety.

Congrats to everyone getting their first few invites!
Just as a reminder to everyone - if you get an invite, resist the urge to accept it right away until you are ABSOLUTELY sure that it will not conflict with any other potential interview dates. The list above is a great resource to cross check interview dates. You don't want to get stuck in the situation where you accept an invite and have to cancel it later. This looks bad on you and more importantly, could take away another student's spot.
Some schools will allow you to interview at an alternative time, but I would strongly recommend only doing this if it is your only option. It's tough for both you and the faculty to get a sense of each other, and you likely won't be able to attend any talks or other planned events.
For those of you waiting for invites, do not freak out if you haven't heard anything yet. Some schools send invites out in batches, others send them out all at once. At this point, it's all out of your hands, and you can relax!